American Wife: A Memoir of Love, War, Faith, and Renewal

Though Chris and Taya Kyle's marriage had its difficult moments, it was always a love story. Together they'd endured military service, a best-selling book, unexpected fame, and a film deal starring a hot Hollywood actor. But just when Taya thought that she and Chris were finally going to live their dream together, her husband was murdered. In the wake of his death, a grieving Taya was left to raise her two young children and handle the many things Chris left behind.

Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10

Four US Navy SEALS departed one clear night in early July, 2005 for the mountainous Afghanistan-Pakistan border for a reconnaissance mission. Their task was to document the activity of an al Qaeda leader rumored to have a small army in a Taliban stronghold. Five days later, only one of those Navy SEALS made it out alive. This is the story of the only survivor of Operation Redwing, SEAL team leader Marcus Luttrell, and the extraordinary firefight that led to the largest loss of life in American Navy SEAL history.

Michael J Canning says:"Enthralling and authentic story of valor in combat"

Service: A Navy SEAL at War

Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell returned from his star-crossed mission in Afghanistan with his bones shattered and his heart broken. So many had given their lives to save him-and he would have readily done the same for them. As he recuperated, he wondered why he and others, from America's founding to today, had been willing to sacrifice everything-including themselves-for the sake of family, nation, and freedom.

American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyles kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared Kyle so much they named him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a bounty on his head.

The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers

In the best-selling tradition of American Sniper and Shooter, Irving shares the true story of his extraordinary career, including his deployment to Afghanistan in the summer of 2009, when he set another record, this time for enemy kills on a single deployment. His teammates and chain of command labeled him "The Reaper," and his actions on the battlefield became the stuff of legend, culminating in an extraordinary face-off against an enemy sniper known simply as The Chechnian.

The Last Punisher: A SEAL Team Three Sniper's True Account of the Battle of Ramadi

The Last Punisher is a bold, no-holds-barred first-person account of the Iraq War. With wry humor and moving testimony, Kevin Lacz tells the story of his tour in Iraq with SEAL Team Three, the warrior elite of the navy. This legendary unit, known as The Punishers, included Chris Kyle (American Sniper), Mike Monsoor, Ryan Job, and Marc Lee. These brave men were instrumental in securing the key locations in the pivotal 2006 Battle of Ramadi, told with stunning detail in this book.

Way of the Reaper: My Greatest Untold Missions and the Art of Being a Sniper

Way of the Reaper is a step-by-step accounting of how a sniper works, through the lens of Irving's 10 most significant kills - none of which have been told before. Each mission is an in-depth look at a new element of eliminating the enemy, from intel to luck, recon to weaponry. Told in a thrilling narrative, this is also a heart-pounding true story of some of the Reaper's boldest missions, including the longest shot of his military career on a human target of over half a mile.

How to Shoot Like a Navy SEAL: Combat Marksmanship Fundamentals

Each year in America, two million criminals break into homes just like yours. Is your aim good enough to guarantee your family's safety? How to Shoot Like a Navy SEAL teaches gun owners and their families the same deadly, effective techniques the author used to create the world's deadliest snipers. The book is designed to give you the most powerful methods in easy-to-follow instructions.

The Red Circle: My Life in the Navy SEAL Sniper Corps and How I Trained America's Deadliest Marksmen

Brandon Webb's experiences in the world's most elite sniper corps are the stuff of legend. From his grueling years of training in Naval Special Operations to his combat tours in the Persian Gulf and Afghanistan, The Red Circle provides a rare and riveting look at the inner workings of the U.S. military through the eyes of a covert operations specialist. Yet it is Webb's distinguished second career as a lead instructor for the shadowy "sniper cell" that makes his story so compelling.

13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi

13 Hours presents, for the first time ever, the true account of the events of September 11, 2012, when terrorists attacked the US State Department Special Mission Compound and a nearby CIA station called the Annex in Benghazi, Libya. A team of six American security operators fought to repel the attackers and protect the Americans stationed there. Those men went beyond the call of duty, performing extraordinary acts of courage and heroism, to avert tragedy on a much larger scale.

Navy SEALs: Their Untold Story

Written with the unprecedented cooperation of the Naval Special Warfare community, here is the definitive history of the U.S. Navy SEALs, a thrilling chronicle that reveals the inside story behind the greatest combat operations of our nation’s most celebrated warriors.

Among Heroes: A U.S. Navy SEAL's True Story of Friendship, Heroism, and the Ultimate Sacrifice

From Brandon Webb, Navy SEAL sniper and New York Times best-selling author, comes his account of the eight friends and fellow SEALs who made the ultimate sacrifice. As a Navy SEAL, Webb rose to the top of the world's most elite sniper corps, experiencing years of punishing training and combat missions from the Persian Gulf to Afghanistan. Along the way, Webb served beside, trained, and supported men he came to know not just as fellow warriors, but as friends and, eventually, as heroes.

Chronicling the great hunters of America - beginning with the Plains Indians and moving through legendary hunters like Daniel Boone, Davey Crockett, Kit Carson, Buffalo Bill, Teddy Roosevelt, Ernest Hemingway, Lyndon Johnson, and more - American Hunter honors the heroes and traditions that have built America.

No Easy Day: The Firsthand Account of the Mission That Killed Osama Bin Laden

From the streets of Iraq to the mountaintops of Afghanistan and to the third floor of Osama Bin Laden's compound, operator Mark Owen of the U.S. Naval Special Warfare Development Group - commonly known as SEAL Team Six - has been a part of some of the most memorable special operations in history, as well as countless missions that never made headlines. No Easy Day puts listeners alongside Owen and the other handpicked members of the 24-man team as they train for the biggest mission of their lives.

The unforgiving Afghan winter settled upon the 22 men of Marine Special Operations Team 8222, call sign Dagger 22, in the remote and hostile river valley of Bala Murghab, Afghanistan. The Taliban fighters in the region would have liked nothing more than to once again go dormant and rest until the new spring fighting season began. No chance of that - this winter would be different.

Red Platoon: A True Story of American Valor

In 2009 Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the US military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after Keating's construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: It was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.

Marine Sniper: 93 Confirmed Kills

There have been many Marines. There have been many marksmen. But there has been only one Sergeant Carlos Hathcock, a legend of Marine lore. He stalked the Viet Cong behind enemy lines. His record has never been matched: 93 confirmed kills. This is his story. Powerful, chilling, and all true.

Seal of Honor: Operation Red Wings and the Life of LT Michael P. Murphy

Lt. Michael Patrick Murphy, commander of Navy SEAL Team 10, posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his heroic actions on 28 June 2005 during a fierce battle with Taliban fighters in the remote mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Michael was the first recipient of the nation’s highest military honor as a result of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan. He was also the first naval officer to earn the medal since the Vietnam War, and the first SEAL to be honored posthumously.

Control: Exposing the Truth About Guns

When our founding fathers secured the Constitutional “right of the people to keep and bear arms”, they also added the admonition that this right shall not be infringed. It is the only time this phrase appears in the Bill of Rights. So why aren’t more people listening? History has proven that guns are essential to self-defense and liberty - but tragedy is a powerful force and has led many to believe that guns are the enemy, that the Second Amendment is outdated, and that more restrictions or outright bans on firearms will somehow solve everything. They are wrong.

Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals

Brian Enos' Practical Shooting, Beyond Fundamentals - often considered the competitive shooter's bible - includes in-depth coverage of the technical and mental aspects of training and competition, and will offer new insights as you continue to improve.

SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper

When the Navy sends their elite, they send the SEALs. When the SEALs send their elite, they send SEAL Team Six—a secret unit tasked with counterterrorism, hostage rescue, and counterinsurgency. In this dramatic, behind-the-scenes chronicle, Howard Wasdin takes listeners deep inside the world of Navy SEALs and Special Forces snipers, beginning with the grueling selection process of Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL - the toughest and longest military training in the world.

Code Name: Johnny Walker: The Extraordinary Story of the Iraqi Who Risked Everything to Fight with the U.S. Navy SEALs

>In this illuminating and informative memoir, an Iraqi translator who risked his life working with American Sniper author Chris Kyle and the Navy SEALs tells his remarkable and inspiring story, offering a refreshing new perspective on the Iraq War. As the insurgency in Iraq intensified following the American invasion, U.S. Navy SEALs were called upon to root terrorists from their lairs. Unsure of the local neighborhoods and unable to speak the local languages, they came to rely on one man to guide them and watch their backs. He was a "terp" - an interpreter - with a job so dangerous they couldn't even use his real name.

Worth Dying For: A Navy Seal's Call to a Nation

In a fast-paced and action-packed narrative, Navy SEAL commander Rorke Denver tackles the questions that have emerged about America's past decade at war - from what makes a hero to why we fight and what it does to us. Heroes are not always the guys who jump on grenades. Sometimes, they are the snipers who decide to hold their fire, the wounded operators who find fresh ways to contribute, or the wives who keep the families together back home.

Modern American Snipers

Most people think of snipers as shooters perched in urban hides, dealing out death unseen from a considerable distance. But this description barely scratches the surface. Special operations snipers are men with stacked skill sets who have the ability to turn the tide of battles, even when they aren't pulling the trigger. Snipers have played an outsized role in the War on Terror that has earned them the Medal of Honor, Navy Cross, and countless other honors.

Publisher's Summary

At the time of his tragic death in February 2013, former Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, the most accomplished sniper in U.S. military history, was finishing a remarkable book that retold American history through the lens of a hand-selected list of firearms. Kyle masterfully argues that guns have played a fascinating, indispensable, and often under-appreciated role in our national story.

Kyle carefully chose ten guns to help tell his story, including the American long rifle, Colt .45 revolver, Winchester rifle, .38 police handgun, and M-16 rifle platform Kyle himself used as a SEAL. This is also the story of how American innovation, creativity, and industrial genius has constantly pushed technology - and U.S. power - forward.

I'm pretty sure that I've seen all or nearly all of the programs on TV channels like the History Channel that profile "Top Ten'" firearms, warplanes and the like.

Chis Kyle's American Gun takes this idea one important step further and carefully considers the impact the each of his "Top Ten" guns played at critical points in the development of the United States.

This book is methodically researched as is evident with Kyle's accurate and detailed description of the infamous OK Corral shootout. However, what makes American Gun special is the way in which Kyle humanizes the characters that surround the American Guns he speaks about.

By doing this Kyle elevates American Gun far beyond a simple "Top Ten" list and leads the listener through an informative look at the role firearms, their designers and users played in the History of the United States.

Chris Kyle was a Navy Seal and the greatest sniper in U.S. history. It is obvious he did a lot of research to write this story. It starts with the U.S. revolutionary war with the American Long rifle. I noted the explanation between the British musket and the rifle. Heard that lecture in Bernard Cornwall's Richard Sharpe series. Kyle proceeds explaining about the invention, improvements and goals of each new weapon, including the political problems with military procurement department. His discussion of the problems that President Lincoln had in attempting to get the Spencer rifle to the troops during the Civil War was interesting. He goes on to discuss the Colt .45 revolvers, Winchester rifle, .38 police handguns, the M-1 and the M16. Of course, he covered the guns that lead up to them and the problems that were corrected by the new gun. I particularly enjoy the stories of individual soldiers (men and women) who were hero's. Some of the stories I was familiar with i.e. Sargent York in WWI but many of the other their stories were new to me. Kyle also covered the police hero after the bad guys throughout American history from Machine gun Kelly to the Hollywood bank robbers that out gunned the police a few years ago. I found it a good idea to keep up about guns and other weapons as they keep popping up in various books I read. This way I know what they are talking about or if they give incorrect information. John Pruden did a good job narrating the book. If you are a history buff or a gun buff you will enjoy this book. I enjoyed the pre and post comments to the book by Kyle's wife, it added a nice personal touch to the book; more so considering that Kyle recently died.

Whether you are a gun-nut, have a gun-phobia or somewhere in between, this book should be a required listen in your library. Kyle's book looks at how guns brought the United States into existence and how they continue to provide the necessary basis for securing our freedoms.

From the Revolution, the frontier, the Civil War, through the twentieth century unto today, Kyle's choices of ten guns that made this all possible is superb. As a military sniper and Navy Seal, Kyle story was true to his history.

Like everything else in the nation's current dysfunctional behavior, the real problems are that current gun laws are not enforced and legal uses of guns, as in the verdict in a recent trial, are promoted by demigods with personal and way to often political and financial agendas.

This book will give anyone with an open mind, a historical perspective of the role of guns in keeping us safe from one another and enemies of the nation foreign and domestic.

Would you consider the audio edition of American Gun to be better than the print version?

Audiobook edition of this book is highly recommended by me.

Which scene was your favorite?

I love the part of the book talking about Abraham Lincoln shooting behind the White House at the trash dump.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

Remember seeing Chris Kyles wife at the NRA annual meeting in Houston where she talked about helping finish the book that her husband had started before he was tragically killed by a mentally ill former colleague.

I was completely taken by Chris Kyle’s first book American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History, so how could I resist? Now I know that history books are not normally my cup of tea, but I have to believe that Kyle can deliver again, especially because it is the telling of history through guns. Now I do not own a gun nor will I until the zombie apocalypse actually happens, and then I wont have to own them but I will possess them.

When I started listening to American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms I didn’t know that Chris Kyle was dead, shot and killed by a fellow veteran at a shooting range. I was immediately saddened by knowing this, but in a selfish way because I was sad that he will not be putting out any more interesting books. Let it be known that this is a history book, plain and simple, the great part of it is that Kyle made this sometimes dry subject interesting. Studying only areas of American history and retelling the incidents where a specific firearm was the turning point of the situation. Plus the added bonus of the history of the development of that firearm. If you are a history buff and want a brief and perhaps a different take on very pivotal moment of American history or maybe you are a gun lover and are interested in the history of specific firearms, you will really enjoy this book.

This is my second listen to John Pruden’s narration abilities, I was not disappointed. He has a very clean and crisp voice that lends itself well to creating different characters. Granted American Gun: A History of the U.S. in Ten Firearms is a history book but there was still a call for this talent. Pruden made me think that he was really into narrating this book and makes me want to go out and find others he has worked on.

I learned a great deal about Americas history that I had either forgotten or did not know. Thanks to Chris for a clear understanding of how firearms obtained and keep out freedom to this very day. He is sorely missed. Thank you Taya for keeping his dream alive through the Chris Kyle Frog Foundation.